THE Bishop of Cloyne John Magee told the Health Service Executive (HSE) his diocese was fully compliant with child-protection guidelines while he was blatantly breaching standards by failing to disclose one of its priests was under investigation for abuse.The Catholic Church's own guidelines state each diocese must directly inform the HSE and the gardai separately if an allegation has been made against a priest.
The priest was being investigated at the time the Cloyne diocese completed an initial questionnaire for the HSE.
However, a subsequent HSE audit of the diocese published yesterday revealed there was a failure to report four priests accused of sexual abuse over the years. This was later dismissed as a "misunderstanding" by Dr Magee.
Dr Magee said the men were reported to gardai and he believed it was their role to pass on the information to the HSE.
Despite being misled, the HSE report refused to condemn Dr Magee.
"The bishop has acknowledged his error in this respect, stating that the matter was reported to the gardai and that his misunderstandings relating to the roles and responsibilities led to a failure to report the matter to the HSE," the report said.
The HSE review of Cloyne followed a complaint by the support group One in Four last year about a priest -- identified only as Fr W -- accused of abuse.
In response, Dr Magee said the matter was reported and the accused priest was removed from ministry.
The priest at the centre of the allegation was professionally assessed by the Granada Institute which deals with sex offenders.
During the review of this case information emerged about how the diocese handled three other priests accused of abuse.
A Fr C was referred to the gardai and no prosecution was taken. It was advised he should not be allowed to return to ministry after he was professionally assessed.
Another priest -- Fr D -- was also referred to gardai, but there was no prosecution. A civil case against him is currently under way.
Another priest -- Fr T-- was referred to gardai and will not face prosecution. "He is in his late eighties and is retired," the report said.
The audit noted it was brought to its attention that Ian Elliot, of the National Safeguarding Board for Children (NSBC) which last month delivered a damning verdict on the bishop, had raised concerns about child protection practices in the diocese.
He told senior HSE officials he was not receiving all the documentation he needed from the diocese.
The HSE report said following meetings with representatives from Cloyne, systems were worked out to "avoid any future misunderstandings regarding roles and responsibilities".
These include monthly meetings between HSE officials and the Cloyne diocesan delegate and an audit of all child sexual abuse allegations made against clergy there since 1996.
The audit published yesterday was largely based on a questionnaire sent to each diocese. It concluded the findings showed "no prime facie" of "serious non-compliance" with recommendations from the report into abuse in the diocese of Ferns.
The only diocese about which it has concern was Cloyne, arising from a complaint by the One-in-Four charity group.
However, the audit acknowledged its own limitations because of the failure of each diocese to comply with one key section of its questionnaire.
This related to information it sought in relation to how each diocese dealt with specific cases.
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